CITY COUNCIL ATTEMPTS TO SLOW SPEEDERS

October 11, 2000 12:00 am

Following numerous requests from residents and an investigation conducted by Brookings Police, the city has requested the Oregon Department of Transportation to extend the 35 mph speed limit to the north city limits.

After reviewing reports by Brookings Police and the Volunteers in Police Service, the city council voted unanimously Monday to ask ODOT to extend the 35 mph speed limit to just north of Harris Heights Road.

City Manager Leroy Blodgett told the city council that nearly a year ago ODOT completed a study on the speed limit on U.S. Highway 101 north of Brookings.

The result was to move the 45 mph speed limit out just pass Harris Beach, Blodgett said. Since then, we have had numerous requests from citizens to reduce the speed limit to 35 mph at least out to Parkview Drive and for some as far north as Carpenterville Road.

Blodgett included a report from a recent traffic patrol and one regarding the reader board, which was placed and monitored by members of Volunteers In Police Service.

Please note the recommendations from VIPS at the end of their report. These are good recommendations and we will consider implementing them, he said.

Increased patrol and placement of the reader board has continued resulting in more citations issued since this report was prepared, Blodgett said.

Doug Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator, reported the VIPS started placing the radar reader board north of the city on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

The radar board was placed alongside the southbound lane across from Parkview Drive in the morning on Wednesday and left in place from 8:45 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Between 3:45 and 4:15 p.m. , 70 vehicles were observed, Johnson said. Three percent were clocked at 45 miles per hour, 87 percent were clocked at 46 to 50 mph and 10 percent were clocked at 51 to 55 mph.

Johnson said two of three buses from School District 17C were observed exceeding the speed limit and the majority of commercial vehicles exceeded the speed limit.

The next day, the reader board was placed alongside the southbound lane 100 yards north of the rest stop turnoff. Between 10:30 a.m. until 11 a.m., 206 vehicles were observed.

Eleven percent were clocked at 45 miles per hour; 62 percent were clocked at 46 to 50 mph; 24 percent at 51-55 percent; two percent were clocked at 55 to 60 mph, and one percent were clocked at over 60 mph.